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Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) is the social and environmentally orientated
responsibility of a corporation. The concept is that a business can be an
element of the social system, can profit from resources such as human
capital and nature itself, and therefore, should set measures from which
human kind and the environment can profit. The objective is a sustainable
market economy.
The release of the “Green
Paper”, Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social
Responsibility in 2001, brought this topic to the forefront in the EU. The
European Commission sees CSR as a concept for achieving the Lisbon
Strategy objective, which is “to become the most competitive and dynamic
knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic
growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.” (See “Report
from the Commission (COM 2002) 347 final"). The commission called a
CSR Forum in 2002 with members of business. This forum should work on
suggestions on how to proceed.
The CSR definition of the EU
is as follows:
“Corporate Social Responsibility – CSR is a concept,
which serves as a foundation for corporations to integrate voluntary
societal and ecological concerns with their business’s activity and with
the relationship to their stakeholders.” Stakeholders include the
shareholders (the owners), the employees (including managers, i.e.
employment and security claims), the customers (i.e. quality and
reliability claims), the suppliers, the capital market (as well as
creditors) and the state (i.e. tax claims and environmental protection
claims), nature (raw materials, waste control) and the public (parties,
unions, media, NGOs, etc.)” (Source: Wikipedia)
According
to a study
from Arthur D. Little, companies realize the advantages of CSR
implementation in the following areas:
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Reputation and corporate image
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The improvement of risk management
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Employee satisfaction
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Innovation and organizational learning
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Capital access
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Financial performance
78% of Europe’s top managers believe that only
through full integration of CSR practise, can a company be competitive and
almost 70% say that these measures are what make profitability viable.
But
what do only socially responsible companies do now?
They take
care of ...
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The security of society’s existence
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Maintenance and development of social resources (extended training and
life-long learning)
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Health and safety in the work place
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The equal treatment of employees (men and women, people with
disabilities/disadvantages, race and ethnic origin, sexual conduct)
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Observing human rights (also in the purchasing of products)
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The development of environmentally-friendly products
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The development of environmentally-friendly production processes
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